98/22Gew98
Member
I bought my first k98k today. Found this guy in the corner at the local shop for a good price. I think the price was right because it had been neglected for what must have been decades, and looked terrible. The bore looked surprisingly decent, so I took my chances. Upon disassembly I found that most of the rough stuff was actually the single thickest smear of cosmoline I have ever seen, much of which had crusted up and turned colors. I spent much time with warm water and soap, and then dried and worked with a soft bristled brush and oil to get any rust out. It still is far from perfect, but it looks much better than before, and while there is some pitting on the barrel and receiver, none of it is deep enough to cause me concern. The stock, while not having any big cracks, is disgusting, and needs a lot of work. I have been toying with the idea of trying to steam it to raise some small dents, but mostly to draw the ick out of it. The stock, and the mismatched, Czech straight bolt are where my questions are. Has anyone actually tried steaming, and had luck with it? I have only seen some videos on it, never tried myself. Also, as the rifle is mismatched and far from perfect anyways, finding the correct bolt isn't a huge deal for me. This one passes headspace with flying colors, is it possible to heat and bend the handle, and achieve the same angle and bend as the original bolt? I'm not going to try and "restore" it, but getting it as cleaned up as I can as well as making it at least handle correctly are my goals.